HomeMy WebLinkAboutA005 - Letter to Mayor and City Council from Michael Miller dated August 27, 2013 Page 1 of 2
Campustown revitalization and Kingland
Mike Miller
to:
bobanneamp, tom,jlarson101, mg, dvoss,jeremyndavis, pforazem, aharvey, vszopinski
08/27/2013 10:42 AM
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Matthew and the rest of the City Council
This is a response to a emailing I receive from Matthew about the City Council's upcoming agenda
I agree that some century old buildings may seem to nourish the soul of an area but as a friend of Lynn Lloyds
and v ho has followed her families efforts to revitalize these buildings some things are too worn down to keep.
The only building n this block of real estate that is a century old is the Champlin building on the corner of Welch
and Lincoln Way, Since 1977 when I came to Ames this building has been a book store and several bars or
eateries. Many of the renters did not keep the building up to par and when Lynn and her family took it back
they had to pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into just the structure of the building to bring it up to code
and even then the business they tried to start failed. The other buildings on this block are not of historical
significance. Kingland has already been allowed to remodel the old Ames Theater which when they took it over
had so much water damage it almost failed to get renovated. The Varsity Theater was gutted by the theater
company so it would not be used in competition with the new plex on Duff and the building was put up many
years after the Champlin and was hardly ever full because of lack of parking in the area when it was a theater.
1SU Memorial Union holds free showings of almost new movies in the great hail now so a theater in campus
town just wouldn't make a profit. The other smaller buildings between the theaters and the Champlin building
have never had viable long term renters and the food court at the Union has moved many chain eateries out of
the area. So these buildings are not really historically significant. The building on Welch that is part of this block
of buildings was put up in the 1990s and has also housed a series of smaller stores,tattoo shops, vending
n,,ach ines and has never been a pleasant building to look at for the area. This building was placed on the original
hor,me of the Champlin's when they moved to Campustown and built their building, originally a grocery and
drugstore and the only building that was around to supply the college students at that time.
I would look to the newer building further up on Welch Ave to see what Campustown could be like with a new
building in the I<Ingland block. Kingland could expand its workforce and put a new modern pleasant facade for
street level businesses with a better physical structure, sewer systems, water infrastructure and fire retardant
systems throughout this area. I would also point out that other significant modernizing of Campustown
struct!.ires have already been done. The Copyworks building once was two or three different businesses, a
jewelry store and tobacco shop and a clothing or hardware store. The new structures on Chamberlain just up
frorn US Bank removed several homes in the area that had housed students for years but they are now gone and
they were not classified as historically significant. The new parking structure along with bringing relief to the
parking situation in the Campusto,,wi area has also brought a newer modern flare in the architecture of the area
and you now have a new empty building that used to house Campus Book Store and is priced so high it may
never be sold without some sort of tax abatements. Also the new doughnut shop used to be a restaurant and
has a marker out front explaining its significance this could be done in the Kingland block of buildings or piers
such as are downtown explaining what used to be in the main street area could be produced. Iowa State did not
let historical significance stop them from tearing down old Clyde Williams Field and then expanding State Gym
into; a modern usable student area for the West side of their Campus onto that site along with new student
housing.
It is my opinion that Campustown needs a business to begin a revitalization of the area on Lincoln Way. It has
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already been sLatted further upWelch so | would ask you and the city council to listen with an open mind to the
Kin�|and �ro�nsa| Lobe�in this revitalization. The Champlin family has moved on when the property was sold to
Qn�,,|and, Papa Ch imPlin passed away and it is time this bUilding which was built with a team of horses and
shoredupvvithdmbe/stobegiowithtobeputtorestand |ettheareabegintofinurishvvithaney/ \ook, new
monetary investment and |eadershipthat is just begging to be allowed to move forward. | be|ieveiax
abajementsused in this way are a good use of the cities powers to bring atired area back into Prominence.
Eventhou8h | smamerchantintheMninStreet [u|tuo| Dis\rict | be|ievethe [ampustovvnareacanbecomea
vital shoppin� di»trict with more ethnic shops and recLaurants that will cater to the |SU and Ames commun|ty
andtheinf!ux �fhi�herpaidposiiion� forstudentsond �radua�e� i� anexdiin§1hou�h�forthearea.
Michael Miller
Ovvoec
Qn]lery3z9
3/0 Main Street
Auzou'IA 50010
515-232-2354
Mike@GoDcry319unzos.uono
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